ICLR Has Moved

ICLR has just moved to a new office! Our new address is:

International Commission for Labor Rights

80 Broad Street, Suite 613A

New York, NY 10004

Our new phone number is:

212 504 2950

ICLR DELEGATION TO BURSA, TURKEY

At the request of DİSK- Birleşik Metal İş Union - ICLR sent a labor delegation to Turkey from April 18-22, 2015 to investigate the denial of the right to freedom of association of metal workers in the automobile industry in Bursa, an industrial city near Istanbul. The delegation included Ramapriya Gopalakrishnan, an Indian labor lawyer, Thomas Schmidt, the General Secretary of the European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights, Angela Cornell, a Cornell University law professor and Susan Adely, a U.S. labor lawyer.

The delegation interviewed workers from several manufacturing plants including two Bosch plants. The issues raised in the interviews included: (1) the inability of workers to choose a union that represents their interests because of numerous legal and employer-generated obstacles; (2) retaliation in the workplace for supporting the DISK union and for engaging in union-related activity; and (3) strike-related terminations and the inadequacy of the remedy for these firings.

During the military coup in 1980, members of DİSK- Birleşik Metal İş were transferred to another union supported by the new military regime, Turk Metal. Turk Metal, the largest union in Turkey maintains considerable support from management interests. The Turkish metal workers have struggled for years for the right to democratically choose their bargaining representatives. Turkish labor law and employer retaliation against union-related activity have undermined the ability of Turkish workers to organize and be represented by the union of their choice. Employer-supported “yellow” unions have imperiled freedom of expression. This year there have been several waves of significant strike activity in the metal sector (including in the Renault and Bosch plants) as workers have tried to more aggressively pursue union representation of their choice in the automobile sector.

The delegation held a press conference regarding its observations about violations of international labor standards and violations of Turkish law. The delegates also cited the ways in which Turkish laws regarding procedures to register unions hinder workers from exercising freedom of association. A number of Turkish newspapers carried reports of the press conference. A report of the delegation’s findings is being prepared.

Check this website for the release of the report.

ICLR Report Released: SHINY CARS, SHATTERED DREAMS

A report on precarious workers in the Chennai automobile hub, their working conditions, and the challenges they face in the exercise of their right to freedom of association, based on worker narratives together with an analysis of the legality of precarious work under national and international law.

The report studies the widespread use of precarious workers in the Chennai automobile hub in the State of Tamil Nadu in India by certain multinational auto companies and their supplier companies, and evaluates the legality of such work under international law, based on the fundamental rights model of the UDHR, as well as domestic law.

The report comes at a time when labour law reforms aimed at enhancing flexibility for employers in the manufacturing sector are on the anvil. The findings in the report establish that the need of the hour is to enhance protection for precarious workers in the manu¬facturing sector both under the law and in practice, and not to increase flexibility for employers.

The report also establishes that it not just the generation of additional jobs that matters but also the quality of employment. The findings draw attention to the urgent need to improve the conditions of employment of precarious workers. The report also underscores the need for creating a suitable climate to enable all workers in the auto sector to effectively exercise their freedom of association and collective bargaining rights.

Read Shiny Cars, Shattered Dreams here

ICLR has moved!

We have just moved into a beautiful new office at 330 West 38th Street, Suite 908, New York, NY 10018. We are sharing an office with a pioneering labor organizing group, the Laundry Workers Center.

Our new office allows us to better litigate, educate and organize for international labor rights for workers around the world!

==Stay tuned for a major report on precarious workers in the automobile industry==

ICLR Calls Upon Indian Government to Respect the Labor and Human Rights of Maruti Suzuki Workers

A fact-finding delegation convened by the International Convention for Labor Rights today released an authoritative report entitled, “Merchants of Menace: Repressing workers in India's new industrial belt, Violations of workers' and trade union rights at Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.,” which finds that Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., and the government and police of the state of Haryana violated the rights of Maruti Suzuki workers at the Manesar facility as well as the rights of their family members and supporters.

ICLR In the News! The Times of India on Release of Jailed Maruti Suzuki Workers

GURGAON: The International Commission for Labour Rights (ICLR), a New York-based non-profit organization, has demanded the "immediate release" of those arrested in the aftermath of last year's extended labour agitation at Maruti Suzuki India Limited's (MSIL) Manesar plant that culminated in the violent uprising of July 18, 2012, leaving one dead and hundreds of others injured.

In its report on the issue, the eight-member delegation, which included lawyers and activists from the United States, France, South Africa, Japan and India, has said the jailed workers should be released "to ensure that justice is not further or forever denied".

ICLR President’s Article on How Right to Work Violates the Law

ICLR President Jeanne Mirer discusses how right to work laws in the U.S. violate international law in an article, in the National Lawyers Guild Review, RIGHT TO WORK LAWS: HISTORY AND FIGHT BACK. Read the article

ICLR Issues a Letter to Michigan Legislators on Right to Work Law

The International Commission for Labor Rights (ICLR) on December 10, 2012, the 64th Anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, issued a statement which was sent to Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and all members of the Michigan Legislature outlining why right-to-work laws are illegal under human rights and labor law. The letter concludes, “ICLR believes that it is cruel irony that, on Human Rights Day, Michigan is attempting to strip basic human rights from Michigan workers.” Read the statement here.

ICLR Sends Letter to Mexican Legislature about Proposed Law Violating Labor Rights

ICLR sent a letter to all members of the House of Deputies and Senate of Mexico expressing its serious concern about the labor law “reform” proposal, being considered under the “preferential” fast track process, which it believes violates international law. The proposed law reform would dramatically curtail existing worker rights and protections, particularly the right to freedom of association. Freedom of association would be jeopardized by the proposal’s legalization of subcontracting of workers. Permitting subcontracting, as well as temporary and short term contracts for workers, severely undermines union security. Such a scheme would deny workers the right to organize, given that they would not be considered regular employees even if they worked for a company for many years. Read the letter here.